Cover songs: our rock favourites from the 2000s

The 00s mainstream music if anything was very bubblegum pop, and soft. There of course were under themes of harder music making its own success but nothing. To twist things up we listed the best rock covers of our favourite 00s songs. We selected some of the biggest hits from 2000s and look at some famous bands that chose to cover these songs. And we also took at some of the greatest YouTube artist covers. So read on and rediscover the sound you love. And hear old sounds in new ways.

Umbrella

Original artist:

Rihanna

Original release:

2008

Original single sales:

10 million*

Covered by:

Manic Street Preachers

The Welsh band took a bold step by covering one of the biggest hits of the time Umbrella, from Barbadian singer Rihanna. It was recorded and released on cover compilation given away free with NME in 2008, to mark the awards for that year.

Love Machine

Original artist:

Girls Aloud

Original release:

2004

Original single sales:

200 thousand*

Covered by:

Arctic Monkeys

No, this is not the F.R.I.E.N.D.S into music, despite the similar introduction. It looks like Girls Aloud weren’t the only Love Machines around with Artic Monkeys. The beloved Radio One Live Lounge that often invites band or artists in to perform their newest tracks, also has a section where they cover another song. In the case of the Artic Monkeys they chose to convert the ultra-pop song and bring down to a rocky level.

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Can’t Get You Out of My Head

Original artist:

Kylie Minouge

Original release:

2001

Original single sales:

2.7 million*

Covered by:

The Flaming Lips

The only thing we couldn’t get out of our heads in 2001 was this classic hit from Kylie Minogue, which was an international number-one hit. The Flaming Lips, an American rock band saw the challenged and released their alternative rock version of the song in 2003 on their album Fight Test. They completely change the tempo of the song, and with the lead singer’s raspy voice the lyrics suddenly have a deeper meaning.

Bloc Party – Say It Right

Original artist:

Nelly Furtado

Original release:

2006

Original single sales:

2 million*

Covered by:

Bloc Party

Things just got very British. This rock cover of Furtado’s classic by Bloc Party fits in nicely into the stereotype of British rock bands. Apparently, the leader singer, Kele Okereke, was a huge fan of pop music artist such as Britney Spears and Nelly Furtado, and therefore loved to create rock covers.

The Wombats – Bleeding Love

Original artist:

Leona Lewis

Original release:

2007

Original single sales:

7 million*

Covered by:

The Wombats

This mega hit from X Factor winner Lewis was an international best seller topping charts around the world. The Wombats a British indie rock band, who drunkly decided to record this hit in 2007, after emptying three bottles of wine. Despite the lack of preparation, the turnout was impressive.

The amateur covers

Ever since the birth of YouTube, covering or parodying popular songs has gained audience from around the world. So we’re going to focus on some these bands, that despite other material, perhaps are best known for their rock covers. Not pardoying. So let’s share the spotlight.

Poker Face

Original artist:

Lady Gaga

Original release:

2008

Original single sales:

10 million*

Covered by:

First To Eleven

First To Eleven unlike most bands on this list haven’t established themselves with their own music. This so-called, YouTube band has gain attention with their online covers of many classic songs. We had to pick Poker Face, the cover, although not super inventive is a nice soft rock take on the classic hit from Lady of all things Gaga.

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SexyBack

Original artist:

Justin Timberlake

Original release:

2006

Original single sales:

6 million*

Covered by:

RIVETHEAD

RIVETHEAD, who seem to pride themselves on not being perfect, have taken SexyBack to the dark side with the hard rock cover of the experimental classic. There’s something about the reputation of the heavy hook that makes this song just as addictive as the original. It seems good music formulations can translate well across multiple genres.

Crazy Love

Original artist:

Beyoncé

Original release:

2003

Original single sales:

2.5 million*

Covered by:

Seven Deadly

Beyoncé is one of the ultimate powerhouses in the industry. No question. Her solo career started though with this upbeat song Crazy Love. The British band, Seven Deadly, created an interesting cover, by keeping the original vocals adding in their own scream vocals to the track. The mixture of both creates an interesting final piece that may fright the ear. Waring: heavy metal.

Beautiful

Original artist:

Christina Aguilera

Original release:

2002

Original single sales:

1.1 million*

Covered by:

OHP

One of the great things about being a YouTube band, is that you can be your own band. Yes, if you have the talent and the mixing skills nothing can stop you from banging the drums to screaming the vocals. And that’s exactly the case with this cover, the one-man band OHP took it upon himself to cover Aguilera’s beloved classic Beautiful. Surprisingly, the lyrics fit the style of music perfectly.

Who Let the Dogs Out

Original artist:

Baha Men

Original release:

2000

Original single sales:

1 million*

Covered by:

Our Last Night

Woof, woof! This last cover on the list is certainly unique, as it features the original artist. Yes, the original signers got in on the fun and helped piece together this rock version of the no 1 single. Despite Baha Men taking part in the recording, it sounds a far stretch from their original song.

Roundup of rock covers

These covers prove that good music can easily translate into any genre. Also, to those that aren’t lovers of rock, perhaps this is a great first step to get into the genre. Of course, this list is just he tiniest atom of the great music covers out there. In fact, some covers are so great they outshine the original song, such as Otis Redding’s Respect, which the Aretha Franklin’s version is far more successful.

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